Virtual Infrastructure products: features comparison
LAST UPDATEDon23rd
December 2009

Important: I am no
longer updating this comparison page. More info on the reasons can be found
here.
Thanks!

This page
(for some reasons) is best viewed with Internet Explorer (if other browsers are
used you won't get the proper red and green flags in the cells)

This page includes a comparison of the
various virtual infrastrcuture solutions available today for the x86
platform. If you have any feedback please send me an
e-mail.

Overall
Positioning (high level)

How do I read these Overall Positioning figures?

There are 6 key players it20.info is monitoring in this market. We have decided to not
list non-hardware virtualization solutions (such as OS virtualization solutions)
so the list doesn't include products like Virtuozzo or Solaris Containers. Since
both Sun and VirtualIron has been acquired by Oracle we only list the latter.
While this overview includes both RedHat and Novell we have decided not to track
these two vendors in the tables below due to limited interest of the industry as
well as a weak strategy/execution on their part (which makes collecting
information a real challenge).

The picture lists 6 big technologies / products layers that are: the Hypervisor,
the Management, the (Extended) Management, the Automation Technologies, the
Desktop Virtualization tools and the technologies the ecosystem is providing to
complement the products of the 5 key players. It is important to note that:

Some of these players have products in all the identified areas. Others
are leveraging their ecosystem to provide similar functionalities

The fact that a key player has a given product at a given layer,
it doesn't
mean an end-user cannot use an alternative product (from the ecosystem or from
another key partner)

Automation Technologies and Desktop Virtualization tools should not be
seen as stacked nor as mutually exclusive. You can have both, either, or
none

The "(Extended) Management" is an artifact to visually call out the
Citrix strategy (i.e. they are providing Management and Automation
technologies to extend both their own XenServer as well as the
Microsoft-based Virtualization Technologies)

Market
Positioning (warning: higly speculative)

VMware

www.vmware.com

Microsoft

www.microsoft.com

Citrix

www.citrix.com

Oracle

www.oracle.com

RedHat

www.redhat.com

Novell

www.novell.com

Market Acceptance

Highest

Moderate

Limited/Moderate

Limited

Limited

Limited

IHVs Commitment

Highest

High

Moderate

Limited

Limited

Limited

ISVs Commitment (ecosystem)

Highest

High(est)

Moderate

Limited

Limited

Limited

How do I read these Market Positioning figures?

This is a high-level market positioning of the various offerings available in
the market. It's obviously subjective (clearly not objective). It's our own
feeling of where most of the attention is (as of today). The feeling reported
relates to the virtualization offering of the vendor. For example most
independent hardware vendors (IHVs) are highly interested in RedHat / Novell
Enterprise Linux distributions but the same IHVs might have limited interest in
the RH/Novell virtualization strategy.

Hypervisor Characteristics

Vendor

VMware

www.vmware.com

Microsoft

www.microsoft.com

Citrix

www.citrix.com

Oracle

www.oracle.com

Product name

ESX

ESXi

Server

Windows-delivered Hyper-V R2

Standalone Hyper-V R2

XenServer (Hypervisor)

OracleVM (Hypervisor)

Shipping Date

Today

Today

Today

Today

Today

Today

Today

Version

4.0

4.0

2.0.1

2

2

5.5

2.2

Virtualization model
(type1=hypervisor, type2=hosted)

type 1

type 1

type 2

type 1

type 1

type 1

type 1

CPU Architecture supported

x86

x86

x86

x86

x86

x86

x86

Hypervisor nature

ESX (VMware proprietary)

ESX (VMware proprietary)

N.A. (not a hypervisor)

Hyper-V (MS proprietary)

Hyper-V (MS proprietary)

Xen derivative

Xen derivative

Implementation

Software (w/ HW assists)

Software (w/ HW assists)

Software (w/ HW assists)

Software (w/ HW assists)

Software (w/ HW assists)

Software (w/ HW assists)

Software (w/ HW assists)

Cost (product support not
included)

Fee-based

Free

Free

Cost of the OS version

Free

Free

Free

Virtual Disk format

VMDK format

VMDK format

VMDK format

VHD format

VHD format

VHD format

IMG format

Boot from Virtual Disk (w/o Hypervisor)

r

r

r

a

a

r

r

Local Console

a

r

a

a

r

a

a

Windows guest licenses included

r

r

r

a

r

r

r

Linux guest licenses included

r

r

r

r

r

r

r

Host Characteristcs

Max # CPU's

64 logical processors

64 logical processors

16 logical processors

64 logical processors

64 logical processors

32 logical processors

32 logical processors

Max Memory

1TB

1TB

64GB

1TB

1TB

128GB

1TB

Scalability (# of virtual
environments per system)

320 VMs (max 512 vCPUs)

256 VMs

64

384 VMs

384 VMs

?

function of server HW

SAN MPIO

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

a (via CLI)

a

(manual
setup)

SCSI disk support for vm files

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

Host OS dependent

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

a

a

SAS disk support for vm files

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

a

a

IDE/SATA disk support for vm files

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

Host OS dependent

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

a

(dedicated
only / not shared)

a

a

NFS disk support for vm files

a

a

Host OS dependent

r

r

a

a

iSCSI disk support for vm files (HW initiator)

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

a

a

iSCSI disk support for vm files (SW initiator)

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

a

a

FC disk support for vm files

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

a

a

Live Snapshots of virtual environments

a

a

a

a

a

a

r

Built-in Thin-provisioning

a

a

a

a

a

r (available through integration into storage arrays
features)

r

Clustered File System

a

a

r

a

a

r

a

(OCFS2)

Physical Memory overcommitment

a

a

a

r

r

r

r

CPU Resource Management (QoS)

a

a

r

a

a

a

a

Memory Resource Management (QoS)

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

Disks Resource Management (QoS)

a

a

r

a

a

a

a

Network Resource Management (QoS)

a

a

r

a

a

a

a

Support for Infiniband

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

r

r

Support for 10Gbit Ethernet

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

a

a

NIC fault tolerance

a

a

Host OS dependent

r

(Through
NIC vendors' drivers)

r

(Through
NIC vendors' drivers)

a (via CLI)

a

(manual
setup)

VLAN Support

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

a

a

Jumbo Frames

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

?

a

Support for TOE cards

a

a

Host OS dependent

a

a

r

r

Support for NPIV

a

a

r

a

a

r

r

Hypervisor boot from local drives

a

a

N.A.

a

a

a

a

Hypervisor boot from flash

?

a

N.A

r

a

a

a

Hypervisor boot from network

a

a

N.A.

r

r

a

a

Hypervisor boot from SAN

a

a

N.A.

a

a

a

a

Hypervisor boot from iSCSI

a

a

N.A.

a

a

r

a

Support for Linux paravirtualization

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Support for Windows paravirtualization

I/O only (through
paravirtualized drivers

I/O only (through
paravirtualized drivers)

I/O only (through
paravirtualized drivers)

a (for
selected Windows guests only)

a (for
selected Windows guests only)

I/O only (through
paravirtualized drivers)

I/O only (through
paravirtualized drivers)

VM Characteristics

Memory hardware assist support (AMD RVI / Intel EPT)

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Max # of vCPU's x Linux vm's

8

8

2

4

4

8

32

Max # of vCPU's x Windows vm's

8

8

2

4

4

8

32

Max Memory

255GB

255GB

8GB

64GB

64GB

32GB

510GB

Hot Add CPU

a (for
selected Guests only)

a (for
selected Guests only)

r

r

r

r

r

Hot Add Memory

a (for
selected Guests only)

a (for
selected Guests only)

r

r

r

r

r

Hot Add Disks

a (for
selected Guests only)

a (for
selected Guests only)

r

a

a

r

r

Hot Add Netowrk Adapters

a (for
selected Guests only)

a (for
selected Guests only)

r

r

r

r

r

Guest OS supported

MSDOS

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

Windows 3.1

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

Windows 95/98

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

NT 4.0

a

a

a

a

a

r

r

Windows 2000

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Windows 2003 x32

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Windows 2003 x64

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Windows 2008 x32

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Windows 2008 x64

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Windows XP x32

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Windows XP x64

a

a

a

a

a

r

a

Windows Vista x32

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

Windows Vista x64

a

a

a

a

a

r

a

Windows 7

r

r

r

r

r

r

r

RH Linux Enterprise x32

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

RH Linux Enterprise x64

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

SUSE Linux Enterprise x32

a

a

a

a

a

a

r

SUSE Linux Enterprise x64

a

a

a

a

a

a

r

Netware

a

a

a

r

r

r

r

Mandriva Linux

r

r

a

r

r

r

r

Mandrake Linux

r

r

a

r

r

r

r

Ubuntu Linux

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

TurboLinux

r

r

a

r

r

r

r

Debian

a

a

r

r

r

a

r

FreeBSD

a

a

a

r

r

r

r

CentOS

a

a

r

r

r

a

r

Sun Solaris

a

a

a

r

r

r

r

SCO Unixware

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

SCO OpenServer

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

IBM OS/2 Warp

a

a

r

r

r

r

r

Mac OS X

r

r

r

r

r

r

r

Oracle Enterprise Linux

r

r

r

r

r

a

a

Vendor

ESX

ESXi

Server

OS-delivered Hyper-V R2

Standalone Hyper-V R2

XenServer(Hypervisor)

OracleVM (Hypervisor)

Product name

VMware

www.vmware.com

Microsoft

www.microsoft.com

Citrix

www.citrix.com

Oracle

www.oracle.com

How do I read these Hypervisor Characteristics figures?

This is a somewhat detailed list of the hypervisor features for each of the
vendors.

Management Characteristics

Vendor

VMware

www.vmware.com

Microsoft

www.microsoft.com

Citrix

www.citrix.com

Oracle

www.oracle.com

Product Name

vCenter

Systems Center family (focus on Virtual Machine Manager)

XenServer (XenCenter)

OracleVM Manager

Shipping Date

Today

Today

Today

Today

Version

4

2008 R2

5.5

2.1.2

Centrilized Management Console

a

a

a

a

Web Based Interface

a (limited
functionalities)

r

a (limited
functionalities)

a

Role Based Security

a

a

r

a

Managed Hypervisors

ESX / ESXi

Hyper-V / Hyper-V R2 / MS Virtual
Server 2005 / VI3 (through vCenter)

XenServer Hypervisor

OracleVM Hypervisor

Host Live Migration

a

a

a

a

Host Live Migration across different CPU models

a

a

Storage Live Migration

a

r (only QuickStorageMigration)

r

r

Resource Pool (partial resources delegation)

a

r

r

r

Intelligent Live Migration

a

?

r (hints only)

r

Intelligent Power Management (automatic start/stop of hosts based on
workload)

a

r

r

r

Centralized Networking Management

a

r

r

r

Server Fault Tolerance

a

r

r (through
third party software)

r

Security API's

a

r

r

r

External management API's

a

a

a

a

Integrated P2V

a

a

a

a

VM Templates

a

a

a

a

Integrated Hypervisor patching

a

a

a

r

Integrated VMs patching

a

a

r

r

Integrated backup framework

a

a

r (available
through integration into storage Arrays features)

r

OVF Support

a

r

?

?

LDAP Integration

r

r

?

?

Active Directory Integration

a

a

a

?

Host Configuration Templates

a

?

r

r

Product Name

vCenter

Systems Center family (focus on Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2)

XenServer (XenCenter)

OracleVM Manager

Vendor

VMware

www.vmware.com

Microsoft

www.microsoft.com

Citrix

www.citrix.com

Oracle

www.oracle.com

How do I read these Management Characteristics figures?

This is a list of the features provided by the management products for
each of the vendors. Most vendors tend to manage their own hypervisors but there
are exceptions to this rule as you can see. For some vendors (Oracle and Citrix
namely) it is difficult to draw a clear line between the hypervisor and the
managent product (this is true from a naming convention perspective as well as
from a price perspective).

This is naturally a continuation of the table "Management Characteristics".
We created this artefact to accomodate the Citrix products layout that, at some
level of the management stack, they fork their value proprosition from a price
perspective (i.e. the Citrix "Management Characteristics" are free of charge as
of today whereas the "(Extended) Management Characteristics" are a fee-based
product) as well as from a platform support perspective (i.e.i.e. the Citrix
"Management Characteristics" are only available for the XenServer product
whereas the "(Extended) Management Characteristics" are available for both
XenServer and the MS Virtualization stack). For other vendors (namely
VMware, Microsoft and Oracle) the "Management Characteristics" table and the
"(Extended) Management Characteristics" table are more like a continuum as far
as product packaging and pricing are concerned.

Automation Technologies

Vendor

VMware

www.vmware.com

Microsoft

www.microsoft.com

Citrix

www.citrix.com

Workflow / Orchestration

a (included in
vCenter)

?

a (included in
the Essentials packages)

Life Cycle Management

a

r

r

Disaster Recovery Automation

a

r

r

Lab Automation

a

r

a (included in
the Essentials packages)

ChargeBack

r

r

r

SLA monitoring

r

a

r

Capacity Planning and Modeling

r

r

r

Vendor

VMware

www.vmware.com

Microsoft

www.microsoft.com

Citrix

www.citrix.com

How do I read these Automation Technologies figures?

This table is a bit different compared to the others. The other tables take
into account a given product and explode its features set. This table lists a
number of Automation technologies and details whether or not each of the vendors
have a vertical product in their portfolio that maps that technology. A table for each of
these technologies/products that explodes and compares the features set should
be created but this is beyond the scope of this comparison effort at the moment.

This table summarizes briefly the characteristics of the technologies that
allows the implementation of a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. This is usually
defined as a technique that allows running standard client software stacks (such
as Windows XP or Vista) on a centralized backend infrastructure. The vendors
that play in this segment of the market provide specific technologies such as
connection brokers and surrounding features (remote access protocols, security
etc etc). The picture below resembles the high level architecture of a VDI architecture:

Oracle does not have an offering in this space so it's not listed in the
table. We have decided however to track three vendors that belong to the
ecosystem galaxy that have been historically very active in VDI architectures.

VDI is sometimes alternative and sometimes complementary to standard Terminal
Services deployments. Interestingly most vendors active in the VDI space (namely
VMware, Leostream and Provision Networks) have extended their products to manage
Terminal Services on top of VDI. Similarly vendors active in the Terminal
Services space (namely Microsoft and Citrix) have extended - or are in the
process of extending - their products to manage VDI on top of Terminal Services.